Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Barry asked a number of questions. We do not have redundancy in the public service in general but we have cost-neutral early retirement. That is simply if one wants to retire before reaching one's retirement age. Actuarially, we have worked out that it is approximately 5% off one's pension and lump sum per year that one retires early so that the cost to the Exchequer is not impacted. When I say cost-neutral, I am talking about the cost to the Exchequer.

Bluntly, if somebody gets to a certain age and they really want to retire, is it in the interest of the public service to keep him or her if he or she says he or she is burned out or finished? I am not sure it would be wise to require people to work beyond that if they are within hailing distance of their normal retirement age. There could be a whole range of family circumstances, new responsibilities, caring responsibilities and so on that might make it impossible for people to go on. In terms of predictability, we do our best to look at what average annual retirements occur and then we look at the age cohort. There will be particular peak years because an intake year will mature at a given point. As there is a time horizon between the ages of 60 and 65 for people to make that choice, normally, one cannot be absolutely accurate in respect of it.

In terms of notice, principal officer grades and above are required to give three months' notice but other grades lower than that are legally obliged to give notice of only a week. In fact, virtually everybody will give significantly more notice than that because they will want to work out what their entitlements are and to ensure that the shared service for pay is geared up to pay them on time. To alter that, there would have to be negotiations on a sectoral basis with each of the trade unions involved. I have looked at a minimum notice period myself because, for example, when we were mapping the exit during the difficult period, as a matter of policy, I determined that everyone should give a minimum of three months' notice. That was adhered to, although it could be challenged. I asked for a minimum notice of three months for practical purposes so that in a time when we were not recruiting, we could prepare to ensure that services ran smoothly where there would be a particular impact and for everyone to be paid in a timely fashion. It is something the next Government might look at.